The Boy Scouts of America has always been a uniformed body. Its
uniforms help to create a sense of belonging. They symbolize character
development, citizenship training, and personal fitness. Wearing a
uniform gives youth and adult members a sense of identification and
commitment.

Various insignia are worn by Scouts and Scouters representing unit membership, activities, accomplishments, honors and training.

Boy Scout uniform insignia

right sleeve

right pocket

left pocket

left sleeve

Left sleeve

The council shoulder patch (sometimes
called a council strip) is an arc-shaped patch worn at the top of the
sleeve that identifies the local council. Below this, Scouts at the unit
level wear a unit number and units with veteran status may wear a
veteran unit bar above the numbers. Lone Cub Scouts and Lone Scouts wear
the Lone Scout emblem in place of the unit numeral. On the new (2008)
style official shirt, the badge of office is centered on the pocket, but
on the older official uniform shirts, the badge of office is centered
and touching the bottom of the unit numeral, or centered 4 inches below
the shoulder seam. When earned for the current position, the green
lettering Trained leader strip is centered at the top of the pocket flap
on the new style official shirt, but on the older official uniform
shirts, the red lettering Trained leader strip is centered immediately
below and touching the badge of office. Qualified commissioners may wear
the Commissioner Arrowhead Honor in the bottom-most position. Youth who
are serving as a den chief may wear a den chief cord around the left
shoulder and under the shoulder strap instead of the emblem. Den chiefs
who earn the Den Chief Service Award or Webelos Den Chief Service Award
may wear the service award cord in addition to the den chief cord, and
may continue to wear it for as long as they are a youth.

Right sleeve

Official uniforms come with the US flag
sewn to the top of the sleeve. Wearing the flag is optional—Scouts whose
religion, tradition, or personal beliefs prevent them from displaying
the flag are not required to do so. Below the flag, Cub Scouts
(including Webelos) may wear a den number and Boy Scouts and Webelos
Scouts (as an option) may wear a patrol emblem. In the next position,
Scouts and Scouters may wear the most recent Quality Unit emblem earned
by their unit. District or council level Scouters may wear the most
recently earned Quality District or Quality Council patch. Venturers may
wear the official Venturing emblem or an approved specialty emblem
below the flag. Scouts and Scouters at the area or regional level may
wear a region emblem below the flag.

Other items that may be worn on the
right sleeve include the Musician badge and National Honor Patrol stars.
Boy Scouts and Varsity Scouts wearing a long-sleeve shirt may also wear
up to six merit badges in two columns of three near the cuff.

Left pocket

The space on the left pocket is reserved
to indicate Scout rank. Scouts in any membership division who have
earned the Arrow of Light badge wear it centered below the pocket. Boy
Scouts and Varsity Scouts wear their current rank badge centered on the
left pocket. Male Venturers may also wear their current Boy Scout rank
badge on the official Venturing uniform shirt to age 18, with those
becoming Eagle Scouts being allowed to wear the badge until they reach
the age of 21.

Scouts and Scouters may wear up to five
pin-on medals that they have earned or have been awarded centered just
above the pocket seam; medals are usually only worn on formal occasions.
Most medals may also be represented by a square knot insignia.

Square knots are rectangular cloth
patches that use a multi-colored knot design to designate certain
awards. Some emblems use other designs, such as the trident for Sea
Badge and the overhand knot for the District Award of Merit, but they
are all referred to as square knots. Some awards are represented by both
medals or badges and square knots, others only by square knots and
others only by the medal or badge. Only a few square knots may be worn
by youth, such as the religious emblem or life-saving awards.

Service stars may be worn above the
pocket or top row of square knots. These are star shaped pins with an
enameled number representing tenure in each Scouting division. Circular
plastic backings represent each membership division; gold is used for
Cub Scouting, green is used for Boy Scouting, brown used is for Varsity
Scouting, red is used for Venturing and blue indicates adult service.
Scouts and leaders with tenure as Tiger Cubs prior to 2000 may wear a
service star with an orange backing. Those who served in Exploring prior
to 1998 may wear a service star with red backing.

All Scouts and Scouters may wear the
round World Crest over the pocket. This emblem is found on the uniform
of most other Scouting organizations and represents unity with other
Scouts around the world. Beginning with January 1, 2010, the Boy Scout
100th Anniversary ring is worn on the outside of the world crest.

Right pocket

The space on the right pocket is reserved for one temporary insignia,
such as patches from summer camps or other activities, which should be
centered on the pocket. Members of the Order of the Arrow may wear lodge
insignia on the flap of the right pocket.

Official uniforms have a BSA strip
immediately above the right pocket. There are several insignia that can
be placed above the BSA strip, including interpreter strips indicating
foreign languages spoken. Varsity Scouts and Boy Scouts in a Venture
patrol may wear the corresponding strip above the interpreter strips. If
worn, a name tag may be placed just above the BSA strip and
interpreter, Varsity, and Venture strips if worn, or on the flap of the
right pocket if no lodge insignia is used. Scouts or Scouters that have
participated in a National or World Jamboree may wear the corresponding
patch centered between the right pocket and the shoulder seam. Visitors
to such events may wear the patch as a temporary insignia.

Merit badge sash

Boy Scouts and Varsity Scouts may wear
the merit badge sash, generally on formal occasions. Merit badges may be
worn on the front of the sash and the Varsity Letter with earned pins
and bars may be worn on the bottom front corner. Additional merit badges
and temporary insignia may be worn on the back of the sash. The sash is
worn over the right shoulder and should never be worn folded through
the belt, should not be worn at the same time as the Order of the Arrow
sash, and should never be worn buttoned under the shoulder loop strap.

Non-uniform insignia

A number of emblems are awarded that are
not intended for wear on the uniform. The emblems for aquatics
qualifications such as Boardsailing BSA, Kayaking BSA, Mile Swim BSA,
Scuba BSA, and Snorkeling BSA are intended for wear on the left side of
swimwear, while certification such as BSA Lifeguard and BSA Aquatics
Instructor are worn on the right side. Other awards such as the 50-Miler
Award, Historic Trails Award, Paul Bunyan Woodsman and the Totin' Chip
and Firem'n Chit emblems are intended as equipment decoration such as a
backpack or on a blanket.

Spoof insignia

Non-official patches, badges, emblems,
shoulder loops and other insignia are readily available from third-party
suppliers. These spoofs are parodies of existing emblems. For example,
spoof versions of the "Trained" emblem include Over Trained, Potty
Trained and Untrainable. Common spoof interpreter strips include
English, Klingon, Brooklyneese and Southern Drawl, and spoof epaulets
include a red, white and blue one for Eagle Scouts and a tiger paw for
Tiger Cubs.